BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:VEVENT UID:63@michellespiano.com DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20150416T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20150421T213000 DTSTAMP:20150415T062538Z URL:https://michellespiano.com/events/beethovens-odyssey-a-journey-of-arti stic-discovery-and-spiritual-evolution/ SUMMARY:Beethoven’s Odyssey: A Journey of Artistic Discovery and Spiritu al Evolution DESCRIPTION:The Old Church Concert Hall :: 1422 SW 11th Avenue at Clay\npre sents\n \nBeethoven’s Odyssey:\nA Journey of Artistic Discovery and Spi ritual Evolution \n \n22 piano sonatas\, seven May recitals\n \nperforma nce and commentary \nby Dr. Gregory Partain \n \n \n​\n\n Tickets Sli ding Scale $5 to $15\nat BrownPaperTickets.com\n \n\nBeethoven’s Piano Sonatas\n\n \n\n“One of the most significant facts for the understandin g of Beethoven is that his work shows an organic development up till the v ery end.  The older Beethoven lived\, the more and more profound was what he had to say.  Such sustained development in the case of an artist who reaches years of maturity is a rare and important phenomenon.”\n\n---J.W .N. Sullivan\, Beethoven: His Spiritual Development\n\n \n\n“Gregory Pa rtain is a gifted pianist\, and every item is intelligently and sympatheti cally played.” —BBC Music Magazine\n \n \n\nPROGRAM ONE\n Tuesday\, May 5\; 7:30\nA fresh\, compelling voice: Vienna conquered (1795)\nSonata s Op. 2\, nos. 1\, 2\, 3\n \n\nPROGRAM TWO \nThursday\, May 7\; 7:30\nEar ly mastery: The virtuoso spreads his wings (1795-1798)\nSonatas Op. 7\; Op . 10\, nos. 1\, 3\n \n\nPROGRAM THREE \nFriday\, May 8\; 7:30\nBeethoven ’s “New Way”: High drama\, moonlight\, and countryside (1798-1801)\n Sonatas Op. 10\, no. 2\; Op. 13 (Pathétique)\; Op. 27\, no. 2 (Moonlight) \; Op. 28 (Pastoral)\n \n\nPROGRAM FOUR \nTuesday\, May 12\; 7:30\nExpand ing horizons: Broken boundaries and novel sonorities (1802-1804)\nSonatas Op. 31\, no. 2 (Tempest)\; Op. 31\, no. 3\; Op. 53 (Waldstein)\n \n\nPROG RAM FIVE \nWednesday\, May 13\; 7:30\nUncharted territory: “Beethoven--H ero” (1804-1814)\nSonatas Op. 57 (Appassionata)\; Op. 78\; Op. 81a (Les adieux)\; Op. 90\n \n\nPROGRAM SIX \nWednesday\, May 20\; 7:30\nThe final phase: Romantic yearning and epic struggle (1816-1818)\nOpus 90\; Op. 106 Hammerklavier ( iii Adagio sostenuto )\; Opus 101\n \n\nPROGRAM SEVEN \n Thursday\, May 21\; 7:30\nApotheosis: Revelations\, strange landscapes\, a nd a last ascension (1821-1822)\nSonatas Op. 109\; Op. 110\; Op. 111\n\nLu dwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote 32 piano sonatas over the course of h is adult life--the first when he was 25\, the last at age 52\, just five y ears before his death.  Sometimes called the “New Testament” of the p iano repertoire\, collectively they represent one of the most significant achievements in the history of western music.  Spanning nearly three deca des\, these masterworks chart the artistic and spiritual evolution of a ma n some see as the greatest composer of all time.  \n\nAlthough we remembe r Beethoven chiefly for his compositions\, he earned early fame as an elec trifying and unorthodox pianist.   Upon arriving in Vienna\, it was the young virtuoso’s eloquence at the piano that most impressed the musical king-makers of his adopted home.  For the rest of his career\, the piano remained his favorite vehicle for self-expression\, and the piano sonata b ecame his compositional laboratory as he challenged the limitations of the genre and stretched the boundaries of music itself.   After two centuri es\, the brilliant sonatas of Beethoven’s early years continue to deligh t\, his “heroic” works still stun and inspire\, and his profound final statements offer rich rewards through their depth and transcendent mystic ism. \n\nThe 22 sonatas chosen for this seven-recital series include those traditionally deemed the most satisfying and most historically significan t.  Hearing them performed chronologically allows listeners the unique ex perience of following Beethoven’s creative thought process as it unfolds through an illuminating\, powerfully moving odyssey.  \n\nGregory Partai n\, pianist\n\nIn his twenty-eight years on the concert stage\, Camas\, Wa shington native Gregory Partain has performed as piano recitalist\, concer to soloist\, and chamber music collaborator throughout the United States\, as well as in Germany\, Poland\, Guatemala\, Costa Rica\, Russia\, and Gr eece.   He has garnered consistent critical acclaim in the U.S. and abro ad for his live and CD recordings of a wide-ranging repertoire:  "...some of the best Scarlatti I've ever heard...these approach the same level as Horowitz's legendary recordings” (American Record Guide)\; "Gregory Part ain is a gifted pianist\, and every item is intelligently and sympathetica lly played” (BBC Music Magazine)\; “…brilliant clarity\, crisp artic ulation\, and a magnificent sense of pacing” (All Music Guide)\; “He i s a sterling-silver player. He doesn’t glitter\; he gleams.  Suffice it to say that the thrill in the audience was very real” (Lexington Herald -Leader).  \n\nAlso a serious composer\, Partain has focused in recent ye ars on compositions for voice that explore spiritual themes.  Major works include Requiem (a large-scale concert piece for chorus and orchestra) an d Stabat mater dolorosa for a cappella chorus--both with traditional Latin texts--and “Come to the Garden in Spring\,” a song cycle for soprano and piano based on spiritual love poems of Jalaluddin Rumi\, the 13th-cent ury Islamic mystic.  \n\nPartain received his Bachelors degree in Piano P erformance from the University of Washington and Masters and Doctoral degr ees from The University of Texas at Austin as a Javits Fellowship recipien t.  Since 1991 he has taught at Transylvania University in Lexington\, Ke ntucky\, where he holds a Bingham Award for Excellence in Teaching. \n\nht tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3uScXhcwpo\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=CbTYau9jBDw\n\nhttp://www.transy.edu/about/faculty_bio.htm?ID=0061544 LOCATION:The Old Church\, 1422 SW 11th Avenue\, Portland\, Or\, United Stat es GEO:45.5151433;-122.68558780000001 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=1422 SW 11th Avenue\, Portl and\, Or\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=The Old Church:geo:45. 5151433,-122.68558780000001 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20150308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR